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Education Minister disappointed by figures in report

TONY EASTLEY: The Federal Minister for Education Peter Garrett joins us this morning on AM.

Minister, good morning. What's your take on these findings?

PETER GARRETT: They're disappointing. They're a wake-up call for us, Tony, and they're an absolute confirmation that what we've been saying and doing as a Government we need to continue - but that we need to make sure that we bring the states with us on a national plan for school improvement so we can arrest this decline.

TONY EASTLEY: Are the figures credible?

PETER GARRETT: Yeah, I think so. I mean here in Australia we have the Australian Council of Education Research - and we heard Dr Masters in the intro piece - so they are credibly figures, and they are telling us some things that we've already known, although I'm extremely concerned.

This is the first time we've ever done the literacy test and I'm extremely concerned at what we're seeing in terms of primary school kids and their literacy capacity.

TONY EASTLEY: Is it a sign that your policies have failed?

PETER GARRETT: No I really don't think it is that. One of the things to remember is that these tests were done in 2010. In 2010 we initiated the Gonski Panel Inquiry into education because we knew that we needed to look at our funding model.

We've had quite a bit of investment, significant investment from this Government in national partnerships on things like teacher quality. A lot of that investment has happened subsequent to when kids did these tests. And I'm seeing some welcome signs of improvement where we've had focused effort on our children.

But the fact remains that as a nation we cannot afford to leave so many kids behind in their education results and we need that national plan for school improvement to be agreed by the states.

TONY EASTLEY: It also says that year four to year eight students that were involved in these tests - that's all on Labor's watch, either federally or state, isn't it?

PETER GARRETT: Well certainly state governments have got a lot to answer for, I'd agree.

I think the education authorities in the states would wake up this morning saying 'Do you know what? People who've been talking and arguing strongly for us to work together on a specific, national school improvement plan, they're right'. And that's what we've been saying federally.

And I do think that for education authorities it's now time to see the lifted effort that we need in classrooms.

Remember that one of the other things that came out of this test was a recognition for principals that did have additional resources, that they could do the job better. Now we do want to apply those additional resources. We expect the states to pay their fair share. But let's get on with it.

TONY EASTLEY: Why should a national plan work?

PETER GARRETT: Well I think there's two reasons. One is that in these results, whilst we're seeing static results in most areas, in some states in particular we're seeing very poor results and we need to make sure that we can lift ourselves to that national standard.

After all, people live in more than one state in their lifetime and it makes sense for us as a nation to do it.

The second reason is that we've got to set ourselves the best, highest level and we can only do that if we have a national plan. And to apply the resources that the Gillard Government has said we want to apply, we need to know that every state and every school system is willing to commit.

TONY EASTLEY: Well to do that means money. A lot of people would say you've got to train your teachers longer and pay them more. Is it as simple as that?

PETER GARRETT: It's a part of it, Tony, and we're prepared to spend additional investment. We've said that. And we've already spent a great deal both on teacher quality - over half a billion dollars. And I think we'll see some fruit from that.

But as well as that it requires us to be clear about what we need to do to better prepare teachers for when they come into the classroom, to make sure principals have more autonomy in the classroom, for each school to have a national school plan for improvement, but to happen at the local level as well - so every school has a plan for school improvement as well, showing that they are targeting their resources on the things that we know make a difference so that kids can get going.

TONY EASTLEY: As I mentioned before, maths and science - perhaps predictable that Australia might be beaten by a few nations - but in reading we came 27th. Is the Prime Minister's aim of getting Australia into the top five nations by 2025 now realistic?

PETER GARRETT: I think that it is and I've heard some other commentary from education experts to say that we can do it but we need to work very hard on it.

I think one of things about this is that we inherited some education decline when we came into government - underinvestment and no purpose in terms of policy.

I mean, remember that when the Prime Minister first became education minister, she didn't have any data in front of her to tell her how kids were performing at all. There were no national tests. We didn't have My School. We didn't have a national curriculum. We didn't have focused investment on things like teacher quality.

Now we've started to do that but it is a long road and it requires us to get the agreement of education authorities to what we know is the next step and the one that we really urgently need to take.

TONY EASTLEY: Well the Government is very keen on setting goals but that in itself doesn't lift the standards, does it? You need the money, the commitment and long-term funding. Labor's prepared to do that is it?

PETER GARRETT: Absolutely. I mean that lies at the very heart of our agenda. We recognise - and look I released some material Tony a couple of weeks ago that showed that if we could simply get more of our kids finishing year 12 and if our young students could perform to the level of some of these countries that are doing better than us, then we improve the national economy by trillions of dollars within the lifetime of the child.

We also know for example that we've got a very long equity tail. In other words, we're seeing a lot of kids from low SES communities who are simply not doing as well as they can, finishing school years behind others.

That's why we doubled investment in education. That's why we want to have a national plan in place. And that's why it's going to need to be a whole of nation effort.

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